Ohaies



J. BRITTON. FAN ATTACHMENT FOR BOOKING CHAIRS.

(N0 Model.)

No." 322,893. Patented July 28, 18-85.

M2 7; esses.'

WM M' N. PETERS. Pholn Llhngnp UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH BErrTon, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FAN ATTACHMENT FOR ROCKING-CHAIRS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,893, dated July 28, 1885.

Application filed July 3, 1884.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSEPH BRITTON, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fan Attachments for Rocking-Ohairs, of which the following is a speci float-ion.

My invention relates to improvements in means and devices for operating a fan by the vibratory movement of a rocking-chair, samples of such devices being shown, for instance, in Patents Nos. 28,159 of 1860, 56,214 of 1866, and 278,047 of 1883.

The main object of my invention is to provide an improved construction and combination of parts whereby the vibratory movement of the rocking-chair shall impart a continuous movement of the fan in one direction only, thereby subjecting the occupant of the chair to an uninterrupted current of air, instead of to the intermittent wafts produced by oscillation, and also requiring for the operation less power than for the latter movement, inasmuch as in the rotary movement, or movement in one direction only, the momentum of the fan is not broken by a reversal of the motion, as

is the case when the oscillatory movement is applied.

The invention comprises the combination of a double-acting floor -spring attached so as to have its two ends set, a ratchetwheel secured upon the fanshaft, two corddrums loose upon the said shaft and having pawls acting on the said ratchet, springs attached, each with one end to one of the said drums, and with the other end to a stationary casing or to the fanshaft bearing, so as to be coiled by the rotation of the said drum, and two cords, each wound at one end upon one of the said drums, and connected at the other end to one end of the said floor-spring, the said cords leading over pulleys on the chair in front and rear of its central point'of motion. It also comprises the construction of the floor-spring and of the devices by which the same and the fan-holder are attached to the chair.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation, partly in section, of a rocking-chair provided with my present (No model.)

taken on the line y 3 of Fig. 4, and seenin the direction of arrow 1, showing the ratchet-- wheel and cam-shaft. Fig. 4, is a frontview (or as seen in the direction of Fig. 2) of the fans and mechanism about the fan-shaft, partly in section. Fig. 5 is a detail cross-section through the line z z ofFig. 6 of the chair-rung to which the floor-springis attached, showing the latter from the side. Fig. 6 isadetail rear view of the device for-attaching the floorspring to the chair-rung. Fig. 7 is asectional detail showing, on a larger scale than in Fig. 1, the device for attaching the fan-holder to the back of the chair. Fig. 8 is a detail top View of one of the ends of the floor-springs and its roller.

A is the rocking-chair; a, the back thereof; a, its seat, and a the rear cross-rung to which the floor-spring is attached.

Bis the floor-spring, havings its ends I) I, bent in loops, as shown in Fig. 8, a roller, if, being pivoted in each loop. The spring B is made of a stiff round wire coiled in the middle one or moretimes, as seen in Figs. 5 and 6, around a small bar, G, which latter, at opposite sides of the said, coils, is provided with an encircling-band, c, the ends of which extend upward and are curved as shown in Fig. 5, and their upper ends provided with a bolt, a, hinged at one end of the band 0, so as to fold into an open slot in the other'end,against which it is tightened by a thumb-nut, thus enabling the band to act as a clamp to be tightened around the rear rung, a", of the chair, to attach thereto the fioorspring B. The central coils of the spring and the Width of the rollers I) prevent it from latera-ldeflection.

D is the fan-holder, being a bent bar or rod, as shown in Fig. 1, whose horizontal part carries at its forward end a yoke, 01, to the ends of which latter are attached casings or springba-rrels d, which also form the bearings of the shaft E, to the ends of which the fans e are attached by a rod, e. The outer arm of the fan-holder D is adjustable as to elevation by being fitted through a hole through a sleeve or hub, F, provided 011 one side with the downward-projecting fiat hook f, by entering which latter in a corresponding socket in a plate or bracket, G, secured to the chair-back a, the said hook, sleeve, and fan-holder are supported in proper relative position to the chair, the elevation being adjusted by sliding the rod D in the aforesaid hub F, and fastening it at any desired position by the set-screw f.

Centrally upon the fan-shaft E is secured a ratchet-wheel, g, and on either side of the said ratchet-wheel is loosely mounted, to revolve upon the shaft E, a cord-drum, H H, respectively, which has a sleeve projection, h, entering into the spring barrels or casings d, in which the shaft E has its bearings; and a coiled spring, I, is secured with one end to the said sleeve projection h, and with the other end to the casing d, in such a manner that when the drum is revolved in one direction (that is, in the direction for revolving the fans) the said spring I will be set or coiled, and when the pull in the said direction ceases will uncoil by its own elasticity, thereby revolving the drum in the opposite direction. To a flange, h, of each drum is pivoted a pawl, J, held by a spring, j, in the teeth of the aforesaid ratchetwheel 9. A cord, K, is wound with one end several times around the drum H, and another cord, K, around the drum H, the said cords running over pulleys 70, attached to the holder D, and thence down, the cord K running directly down to and being attached with its other end to the end I) of the floor-spring B, and the cord K running down under a pulley; 70', attached under the rear end of theseat a; thence to and over another pulley, 70 attached underneath the forward part of the seat, and thence down to and attached to the other end I) of the floor-spring.

The operation is as follows: A rocking forward of the chair lifts the forward end, I), of

the spring B, thereby slackening the cord K (the slack being taken up by the coiled spring attached to the drum H, around which the up per end of the said cord is attached) and cans ing the drum H to revolve to wind the end of the cord onto the said drum, and the pawl J to slide upon the ratchet-wheel g with the teeth thereof until, at the end of the said oscillation, the pawl has taken a new hold on the said ratchetwheel. At the same time the other end, I), of the spring B (having been set or bent against its elasticity by the next previous oscillation) expands or moves downward, thereby pulling the cord K, unwinding its upper end from, and, thus revolving, the drum H and (by the pawl attached thereto) revolving the ratchet g and thereby the fans 0. When the chair is rocked backward, the end 12 of the spring B will be bent upward, thereby slackening the rope K and allowing the slack to be taken up by the coiled spring 1', attached to the drum H, thus causing the cord to again wind onto said drum, while the pawl attached thereto takes a new hold upon the ratchet. At the same time the forward end, I), of the floorspring, released from extra pressure against the floor, will move downward and pull the cord K, to revolve the ratchet and thereby the fans. It will thus be seen that for each oscillation of the chair the fans will get a new impetus to revolve, always continuously in the same direction, thereby producing a constant current of air, instead of a succession of wafts, as by oscillating fans hitherto used.

The holder being once adjusted to its proper height needs not to be readjusted, as, without disturbing the set-screw f, it may be detached from the chair by simply lifting it,with its hook or prong f, out of the socket-plate G in the back a; and to remove the floor-spring it is only necessary toloosen the hinge-bolts c and pull the clamps c from off the rung a the lower end of the cord K being detached from the forward end, 12, of the floor-spring. The manner of attaching it again is obvious and needs not to be described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of the double-acting floor-spring B, attached to the chair so as to have its two ends set, the ratchet-wheel y, secured upon the fan shaft E, the two corddrums H H, loose upon the said shaft and having pawls J acting on the said ratchetwheel, the springs I, attached each with one end to one of the said drums and with the other end to the casing, so as to be coiled by the rotation of the said drum, and two cords, K K, each wound at one end to one of the said drums and connected with the other end to one end of the said floor-spring, said cords leading over pulleys on the chair in front and rear.of its central point and connected to the drums, all substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

2. The fioorspring B, wound by its central portion around a pin or rod, 0, in combination with the said pin, and with its encircling clamp or bands 0, provided with hinge-bolts c, for attaching the floor-spring to the rung a, substantially as specified. v

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of two witnesses, this 7th day of June, 1884.

JOSEPH BRITTON. WVitnesses:

A. WV. ALM vIsr, ALF. FORNANDER. 

